Drive for multicolor presses



May 3, 1938. c, w. HARROLD DRIVE FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES Filed Jan. 4,1956 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CHARLE5 w. HARROLD m MM Mm ATTORNEYS May3, 1938. c. w. HARROLD DRIVE FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES Filed Jan. 4, 1936 ssheet -sheet?- INVENTOR.

F CHARLES w. HARROLD m mamswadm ATTORNEYS May 3, 1938. c w HARRQLD2,115,975

DRIVE FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES Filed Jan. 4, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR. CHARLES W. HARROLU m M & Kwh

' ATTORNEYS Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRIVE FORMULTICOLOR PRESSES Application January 4, 1936, Serial No. 57,542

19 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in drive for multicolor presses.It is to be understood, however, that the invention is applicable toother sheet handling machines wherever it is of importance to preserveaccurate register of the sheets while different operations are beingperformed upon them.

Theusual method of driving a multicolor press having a series ofprinting and sheet carrying or transfer cylinders is by means of gearscarried by each of the cylinders and forming an intermeshing train.Power is supplied to one of the gears and transmitted through the trainto the other cylinders. In this type of drive the sheet carryingcylinders because .of the stresses incident to the transmission of powersuffer deflections which vary with the load being transmitted, and hencewith the speed at'which the press is operated. It may be seen thereforethat registration between successive printings on a sheet' would tend tovary according to the-speed at which the sheet is printed.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a drive-suchthat deflection, back 5 lash and wear'in the various driving memberswill not affect the proper registering of successive printings upon thesheet.

Another object is to lessen the load on certain of the gears of amulticolor press or the like, by imparting driving force to the press atmore than one point in thegear train. v Another Object is the provisionof means whereby when two non-adjacent gears of a train are driven fromthe same source of power independently, there will be no tendency of theintermediate gears to bind, and at the same time there will be accuratepositioning of thesegears with relation to each other at predeterminedpoints in their rotation.

- Still another object of theinvention is to substantially relieve thetransfer mechanism of driving load, so that any tendency to assume anoutof-register relation under high speed operation of the press isminimized. Other objects and features of novelty will appear as Iproceed with the description of those embodiments of the inventionwhich, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustratedin the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a more or lessdiagrammatic side elevational view of a multicolor ofi-set printingpress embodying the invention. r

Fig. 2 is a fragmental end elevationof the same.

rear and at other Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig 1 showing a ployed inconnection with the invention; the cyl- 'inder being in a position'wherea. sheet is being transferred thereto from a cooperating cylinder.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the same partsafter a further rotation of90. i

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the gear units of Figs. 5 and 6, and iFig. 8 is a detail view on a ing the angular displacement between thegear elements when the transfer cylinder is in the position of Fig. 6.

Referring to the three color off-set printing press wherein there arethree printing units III, II and 12, each comprising a plate cylinderl3, a blanket cylinder ll and an impression cylinder l5. These cylindersare mounted in any conventional .manner, and upon each of the shaftsupon which they are carried there is a drive gear indicated in thedrawing as l3, l4 and 15', respectively. three cylinders of each unitare therefore geared together in the usual manner.

A motor 15 is employed to drive a multiple belt H or other suitabledriving element, a pulley l8 keyed to one end of a shaft 19 arrangedlongitudinally of the press. This shaft has bevel gears 20, and; lfixedthereupon, one,for each printing unit. These gears mesh with other bevelgears 23, 2d andl lli;

11m li ofthatunit is keyed respectively to the shaft which theimpression cylinder mounted. By this means each of the three printingunits is driven directly rr m' shaft [I9 sheet transfer means isprovided, which is oplarger scale show- The independently of each ofthepth 'r'. unitsitliat does the driveiorlany given eratively connectedwithbothof lthc'iunitson opposite sides thereof. One element offthetransfer means is so constituted that at times it takes its drivingforce from theprintingfuniflt he times fromythexprintihg This speciallycons'triicted jtra in advance. fer element provides gear which isutilized to prevent anylbindin'gdueto drive from opposite directions,and r1.-

siack take up Y i a l overlie the slots.

' ity of gears 36 and 3|.

received upon the roll 21 it is received at the l the gear 23',

structed to bring its sheet grippers into register first with the unitto the rear and then with the unit in advance, whereby there is nobuilding up of any out-of-register tendency in the sheet transferringmechanism.

The sheet transfer mechanism between successive printing units in eachinstance comprises three cylinders or rolls 26, 21 and 28. Fixed withrespect to roll 26 there is a gear 26' which meshes with gear l5 of oneunit, while a gear 28' on roll 28 meshes with gear I5 01' the nextsucceedtric. Directly in front of loose gear 30 there is an identicalgear 3| which is provided with a shaft hole having the same eccentricityas that of gear 30. The gear 3| is keyed to shaft 29, as indicated at32. In Figs. 5 and 6 the center of the shaft is marked 33 and the centerof the gear 3| is marked 34.

Any suitable means may be provided for preventing relative longitudinalmovement between the two gears 30 and 3|. The means illustrated hereinconsists of screws 35 which extend through slots 36 in gear 3| intothreaded openings in gear 36. Washers 3-1 beneath the heads of studsMeans are provided also .tending to displace the two gears 30 and 3|angularly with respect to each other. In the illustrated case this meansconsists of a plurality of headed posts 38 which are threaded intotapped openings in gear 30, the heads of the posts projecting intopockets 3! in the rear side of gear 3|. The head of each of the posts 33has a smooth bore therethrough which slidably receives a pin 40. A coilspring 4| surrounds each pinlil, bearing at one end a ainst the head ofpost 36 and at the other end against the head of the pin. The latter isrounded as shown at 42, and is received in a socket formed in the gear3| at the end of pocket 39. It will be apparent therefore that thesprings 4| tend to expand and produce slight rotation of gear 30 withrespect to gear 3| and shaft 29. Such angular displacement isillustrated in Figs. 6 and 8.

The double gear 30, 3| meshes with gears 26' and 26' on opposite sides.The two meshing points are shown separated by 180 in Figs. 5 and 6 forconvenience in illustration, but it should .be understood that they-maybe at various angles, as the design of the machine may dictate. Sheetgrippers 43 are mounted on the roll 21 in radial alignment with thepoint 34 of greatest eccentric- Hence when a sheet is point of greatesteccentricity of the gears for the roll, and when it is delivered fromthat roll it is delivered from the point of greatest eccentricity.

At the position shown in Fig. 5 a sheet is at the point of beingdelivered from the roll 21 to the roll 23. At this time the two gears 30and 3| have their high teeth, or teeth of greatest'eccentricity, inengagement with the teeth of gear 28'. Hence there is close meshing ofthe gears 36 and 3| with and accurate regtstering of the roll 21 withthe roll 28. This close meshing draws the loose gear 36 into perfectalignment with the gear 3 against the action of springs 4|. When thesheet has been delivered in this manner the high point of gears 30 and3| turns in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 5 and 6 until the gearsreach the position illustrated in Fig. 6. At this point the meshing ofthe gears 30and 3|, not only with the gear 26' but also with the gear26', is rather loose, and consequently the springs 4| are free to act.They therefore displace the gear 3| with respect to the gear 30 asindicated in Fig. 6, taking up all slack and preventing undue noise. Thenext quarter revolution brings the high point of these gears into meshwith gear 26', when again the gears 30 and 3| are brought into alignmentand the register between rolls 26 and 21 becomes accurate. At this pointa sheet is received by roll 21 from roll 26. The next quarter revolutioncarries the gears to another position of loose register,- where angulardisplacement takes up slack, and the final quarter revolution bringsthem again into the position of Fig. 5, completing the cycle.

The sheets to be printed enter the press from the feed table 44, passthrough the press along' the path indicated by arrows in Fig. 1, and outby way of a delivery cylinder 45 which is driven by a gear 45 meshingwith gear i5 of the last printing unit.

While the transfer mechanism as herein described comprises threecylinders, it is to be understood that other means may be employedwithout departing from the broad aspects of my invention. For example,the transfer means may comprise a continuous conveyor having sheetgripping devices, or may comprise any other number of transfer cylindersof any suitable size.

When the transfer mechanism comprises a single moving element such as acylinder or a continuous conveyor, that element carries means forregistering its grippers first with the previous printing unit and nextwith the succeeding printing unit,'whereas when more than one element isemployed in the transfer mechanism the.

gripper registering means may be applied to any one of such elements.Furthermore, while I employ an eccentric gear to assure accurateregistration of the sheet at the time it is taken by the intermediatetransfer cylinder and again when it is delivered to the succeedingcylinder, this desired result may be accomplished in other ways, as forexample by the use of adjustably fixed or spring actuated registersegments, or by other means known to those familiar with the art. I

The modification illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 differs in no respect fromthat of the preferred form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, except that thedrive, instead of being communicated directly to one of the cylinders ofeach printing unit, is communicated to one of the cylinders of eachtransfer mechanism, while the eccentric gear is moved forward to thecylindernext in advance beyond that of Figs. 1 and 2, in order. that itmay be midway between the successive .driven elements. Similarly, thedrive could be transmitted to any one of the corresponding cylinders ofthe various printing units, as well as to any one of the elements of thetransfer mechanism, although I prefer to transmit the drive to somecylinder of each printing unit and thereby to relieve the transfermechanism of. the load imposed by the driving of the printing cylinders.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the cylinders of the printing units and of the transfermechanisms carry the same reference numerals as in Figs. 1 and 2, but

' the transfer cylinder 21 has attached thereto a .next printing unit.

concentric gear 21 meshing with the gear 26' on cylinder 26, whilecylinder 28 instead of having a fixed concentric gear is provided withthe eccentric gears 3ll and 3| mounted as previously described, theselatter gears meshing with gear 21' of the transfer mechanism and gear lof the Drive for the machine is furnished from a suitable source ofpower such as an electric motor 46 operating through a multiple belt 41to drive a pulley 48 keyed to a shaft 49 extending longitudinally of thepress. Upon this shaft are keyed at proper points bevel gears 50, 5| and52. Gears 50 and 5| mesh with bevel gears 53 and 54 on cylinders 26 ofsuccessive transfer mechanisms, and bevel gear 52 meshes with a bevelgear 55 on delivery. cylinder 45, the gear 45' of which communicatesdriving force to the last printing unit.

It will be observed that I have provided a drive which is carrieddirectly to each printing unit independently of the transfer mechanism,thereby relieving the latter of the function of transmitting power tothe printing units. In particular this drive is independent of thedevices employed for securing accuracy of registration of a;

sheet as it is transferred from one unit 'to the next. At the same time,however, each transfer mechanism is operatively connected at itsopposite ends to corresponding elements of the printing units betweenwhich the transfer mechanism is located. Because of the eccentric gearson a transfer cylinder positioned midway between the successive printingunits, a sheet handled on that cylinder will be taken by gripperscorrectly registered with the preceding printing unit, and will bedelivered togrippers accurately registered with the succeeding printingunit. In other words, there can be no accumulation of slack in the gearsof the transfer mechanism. The drive from the two printing 'units meetsin the twopart gear of the intermediate cylinder, and because of theloose meshing of that gear with the gears on opposite sides, there is nojamming of the gears, while the angular play between the elements 30 and3| of the two-part gear serves to take up the slack during the movementof the point of greatest eccentricity from meshing relation with onegear to meshing relation with the other gear.

I have disclosed herein specifically means for producing accurateregister by special formation of the gears attached to one of thetransfer cylinders, that is by so forming the gear at the gripper pointas to produce close meshing relation at that point. However, it ispossible to produce accurate register of'the grippers of a transfercylinder with those of the preceding and succeedv ing cylinders, oraccurate registration of the is of minor importance.

grippers of an endless conveyor with the grippers of preceding andsucceeding elements, by means,

other than gear formation, and hence in certain broader aspects of theinvention the particular means employed for accomplishing registrationHaving thus described my invehtionQI claim I. In a drive for a sheethandling machine having a plurality of units adapted to operate upon thesheets in registered relation, each of said units comprising a pluralityof operating elements and adjacent units beingoperatively interconnectedby means of said elements, means for imparting driving force tov asingle element in each unit from which the otherelements of the unitstake their driving force, and means associated with said other elementsfor compensating from said single elements.

2. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of unitsadapted to operate upon the sheets in registered relation, each of saidunits comprising a plurality of operating elements and adjacent unitsbeing operatively interconnected by means of said elements, means forimparting driving force to a single element in each unit from which-theother elements of the units take their driving force, one of said otherelements in each unit comprising means for registering that element withthe preceding element when it takes a sheet and registering it with thesucceedingelement when it delivers a sheet.

3. In a drive for a sheet handlingmachine having a plurality of unitsadapted to operate upon the sheets in registered relation, each of saidunits comprising a plurality of operating elements and adjacent unitsbeingoperatively interconnected by means of said elements, means forimparting driving force to a single element in each unit from which theother elements of the units take their driving force, and meansassociated with one of the other elements in each unit for causing it totake driving force from the preceding element at the instant when ittakes a sheet fromthe latter element and for causing it to take drivingforce from the element in advance at the instant when it delivers asheet to that element.

4. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of unitsadapted to operate on the sheets in registered relation, a plurality oftransfer cylinders between successive units, the cylinders of eachtransfer cylinder group being geared together and to the said .units oneither side thereof and driving connections for one of the transfercylinders of each group such that driving force for that cylinder istaken a1- ternately in each revolution from the driving element to therear and the driving element in advance.

5. In a drive for a sheet handling machine closely intermeshing withadjacent gears than the other portions thereof.

6. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of unitsadapted to operate on the sheets in registered relation, a plurality oftransfer cylinders between successive units, the cylinders of eachtransfer cylinder group being geared together and to the said units oneither side thereof,,the gear for one transfer cylinder of each grouphaving a portion of its teeth extending further from the axis ofrotation of the cylinder than the other portions thereof, and sheetgrippers on said last named cylinder positioned substantially in a linewith the high teeth of the gear for that cylinder. I

'I. In a drive for a sheet'handling machine having a plurality of unitsadapted to operate on the sheets in registered relation, a plurality oftransfer cylinders between successive units,.the

-- of each group being mounted slightly eccentric of 1 the cylinder,whereby it meshes closely with adjacent gears on either side alternatelyduring each revolution.

8. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality ofunits-adapted to operate on the sheets in registered of transfercylinders between successive units, the cylinders of each transfercylinder group being geared together and to the said units on eitherside thereof, thegear for one transfer cylinder of each group beingmounted slightly eccentric of the" cylinder, whereby it meshes closelywith adjacent gears on either side alternately during each revolution,and sheet grippers on said last named cylinder positioned substantiallyin line with the point of maximum eccentricity of the gear for thatcylinder.

9. In a rotary multicolor press having separate printing units eachcomprising a plurality of cylinders, one of which in each unit is animpres sion cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferring sheetsfrom one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising atransfer cylinder connected with the impression cylinders on either sidethereof by gearing possessingslack, and said gearing comprising meansfor registering said grippers alternately with the grippers of thepreceding and succeeding impression cylinders.

10. In a multicolor press having separate printing units, means fordriving each unit independently of the others, sheet gripping meansforming a part of each unit, and means for transferring sheets from oneunit to another comprising grippers arranged to take a sheet from thegripping means associated with one unit and to deliver said sheet to thegripping means associated with the next adjacent unit.

11. In a rotary printing press, a plurality of interconnected sheetcarrying members, sheet gripping means on said members, and drivingmeans for said members arranged to impart driving force to two of themembers independently of each other.

12. In a multicolor press having separate printing units each of whichincludes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferringa sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising aplurality of cylinders arranged in series between consecutive impressioncylinders, and operatively connected to both of said impressioncylinders, and a drive for each unit independent of the transfer means.

13. In a multicolor press having separate printing units each of whichincludes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferringa sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising aplurality of cylinders arranged in series between consecutive impressioncylinders, and operatively connected ,to both of said impressioncylinders,

a drive member for said units, and driving connections between saidmember and each of said units independent of the transfer means.

14. In a multicolor press having separate relation, a plurality printingunits each of which includes an impression cylinder, gripper transfermeans for transfering a sheet from one impression cylinder to another,said means comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in seriesbetween consecutive impression cylinders, and operatively connected toboth of said impression cylinders, and a drive for eachunit independentof the transfer means, one of the cylinders of said transfer meanshaving sheet registering connections.

15. In a multicolor press having separate printing units each of whichincludes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferringa sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising aplurality of cylinders arranged in series between consecutive impressioncylinders, and operatively connected to both of said impressioncylinders, a drive for each unit independent of the transfer means, oneof the cylinders of said transfer means having sheet registeringconnections adapted to act alternately as the sheet is received by saidcylinder and delivered therefrom.

16. In a multicolor press, two sheet carrying cylinders, means fordriving said cylinders, a

plurality of sheet transfer cylinders arranged in series between saiddriven cylinders, driving connections between each of said drivencylinders and the adjacent transfer cylinder, said driving connectionscomprising a gear with high teeth at one point, whereby it takes drivingforce alternately from the gears on opposite sides thereof.

17. In a rotary printing press, a plurality of multicylinder printingunits, each unit comprising a sheet carrying cylinder, grippers on eachof said sheet carrying cylinders, a driving member, separatedrivingconnections between the driving member and two of the sheetcarrying cylinders, gripper transfer means for transferring the sheetfrom the grippers on one of said driven cylinders to the grippers on theother, and means for driving the transfer means associated with both ofsaid driven cylinders.

18. In a rotary multicolorv press having separate printing units each ofwhich includes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means fortransferring a sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said meanshaving slack therein and comprising means for removing slack at thepoint of transfer of a sheet to the forward impression cylinder wherebythe sheet is accurately registered upon that cylinder, and a drive toeach unit independent of the sheet registering means. I

19. In a rotary printing press, a plurality of interconnected sheetcarrying members, sheet gripping means on said members, gripper transfermeans for transferring sheets from the gripping means on one member tothe gripping force to two of the members independently of each other.

CHARLES W. HARROLD.

